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Not Applicable.
1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to devices to suspend personal equipment for a police officer or a soldier; and more particularly, it relates to devices that suspend article carriers such as a holster for a pistol or the like on a belt, including a waist belt.
2. Description of the Related Art
The related art includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,881,933, dated Mar. 16, 1999, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,045, dated Jan. 4, 2000. The former invention discloses a combination of two waist belts, one overlying the other, preferably locked together by xe2x80x9cVelcroxe2x80x9d hooks and loops, and employed for carrying sidearms and other, articles used in police work. The latter invention describes an adjustable carrier plate, which is attachable to a waist belt and provides an angular position adjustment for a gun holster or other carrier that might be attached to the belt through the plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,781, dated Nov. 30, 1993 discloses several mounting devices for holster suspension; a paddle embodiment in FIGS. 10-13 which is the more relevant embodiment to the support plate of the herein disclosed invention.
In one aspect of the present invention there is provided a device attachable to a belt for carrying a holster including an elongate support plate having an upper portion and a lower portion and opposite side portions, and a pair of spaced elongate slots oriented lengthwise of and passing through respective side portions of the support plate. The support plate has an outer surface and an inner surface adapted to fit adjacent a wearer and includes means to deflect a belt passing through the slots, greater at a lower portion of a belt than an upper portion of a belt to cause the lower portion of the plate to be pulled against a leg of a wearer when a belt is tensioned about a wearer, the support plate further including mounting means for attachment of a holster thereto. The means to deflect includes each side portion being bent inwardly toward a wearer to shape the slot such that a passageway defined by the slot for a belt therethrough is a wedge having a wide, upper portion and a narrower lower portion for firmly grasping the inner and outer surfaces of a belt therethrough. The means to deflect in one embodiment includes the side portion adjacent the lower portion of a respective slot being thicker than the side portion adjacent the upper portion of the slot. The means to deflect in another embodiment includes an outwardly extending wall member adjacent each lower portion of a respective slot. The means to deflect in a further embodiment includes slots being slanted such the upper portions of the slots are closer together than the lower portions of the slots. The slots are substantially parallel and each is formed angularly between the surfaces so that the width of each slot adjacent the outer surface is larger than the width of the respective slot adjacent the inner surface for firmly grasping the inner and outer surfaces of a belt. The support plate is formed of a stiff, substantially inflexible material and includes mounting means having an outwardly disposed boss formed on the lower portion of the outer surface of the plate which includes at least one attachment hole formed therein for mounting a holster thereto. The slots are sized to accept belts of different widths therethrough for securing the support plate to the body of a wearer.
The support plate is curved about a vertical longitudinal axis so as to fit closely against an outside hip and leg of a wearer when a belt is worn about a waist. The lower portion of the support plate is curved at a horizontal axis so as to dispose a handgun carried in a holster attached thereto with the grip spaced away from a wearer""s waist and the muzzle being closely held adjacent a leg of a wearer. Belt adapter means is include for securing to the support plate a belt having a width substantially less than the length of the slots. The belt adapter means includes an insert having opposite end portions each being disposable in a slot. The insert includes a substantially planar body positioned closely adjacent the inner surfaces of the upper portion of the support plate when the end portions are disposed in respective slots. The device may be combined with two concentric waist belts that fasten to each other by means of a fabric fastener system of hooks and loops, one belt being worn around the waist of a wearer, the other being threaded through the slots and attachable to one belt by the fastener system in a portion of the other belt that is between the slots.
In other aspects of the present invention there is provided a device attachable to a belt for carrying a holster including an elongate support plate having means for self-securing the plate on a tensioned belt to selectively fix the position of the plate along a belt and being freely movable along a belt when loosened about a wear. The means for self-securing further may include means to deflect a belt passing through the slots wherein each side portion is bent inwardly toward a wearer to shape the slot such that a passageway defined by each slot is wedge-shaped, having a wide upper portion and a narrower lower portion for firmly grasping the inner and outer surfaces of a belt therethrough. The means to deflect may have a side portion adjacent the lower portion of each slot being thicker than the side portion adjacent the upper portion of each slot. The support plate is symmetrical about a central vertical axis for use with either right-handed or left-handed holsters.